Three-legged Dog
(Published on 9. November 2022, 19:45 by Abdul the Killer)
In the completed grid cells containing values exactly one greater than an immediate neighbour (diagonally or orthogonally) in their box are shaded.
The shaded cells form a single orthogonally connected region, as do the unshaded cells.
No 2x2 region is wholly shaded or unshaded.
Four shaded cells are given.
Otherwise, standard Sudoku rules apply.
Solution code: Row 8 Col 8
Comments
on 6. September 2024, 14:04 by elpadrinoIV
Break in was brutal for me. After that everything flowed very smooth and fast.
Nice puzzle!
---The break in was so brutal that I reworked the puzzle as TLDR in May 2024. The reworked puzzle has all the joy, and none of the agony :) ---ATK
on 2. May 2024, 23:48 by shteev
Damn this puzzle is hard! Very satisfying to solve tho, thanks ^_^
on 1. May 2024, 01:51 by Shuhua Milk
Oh my goodness that was hard!
---I trust you still got a kick out of it :) Thanks for the comment and the solve.---ATK
on 24. April 2024, 19:50 by ryanprobably
Tricky but very satisfying, no bifurcation needed but definitely requires some thinking!
---Thanks for the generous comment and the solve.---ATK
on 3. April 2024, 13:06 by PippoForte
great!
---Thanks for saying.---ATK
on 7. March 2024, 23:11 by kamkam
Wow, that was so hard to solve. I got stuck so many times. Lovely puzzle by the way, love that ruleset!
---I'm so glad you enjoyed it. I have another puzzle with the exact same ruleset in the pipeline.---ATK
on 4. February 2024, 08:19 by pms_headache
Loved this puzzle. Such a satisfying yin yang. You seem to have some very loyal solvers, based on the comments and the pretty consistent solve counts. I’m another one. I’ve gone back to solve all your puzzles. It’s been a great couple of weeks and I have just two left! Thanks so much, your work deserves a bigger audience!
---Your comments are greatly appreciated. As for the loyalty of my solvers, it is that loyalty that persuades me that I must be doing something right in my puzzles (because honestly if one were to judge by number of solves and/or rating they're decidedly average).
Good luck with the final two (and the others to come, I hope).
---ATK
on 28. September 2023, 14:28 by Chelo
Wow Abdul!.. This was the last one of all of your published puzzles that I have solved!.. It's been the hardest but absolutely the best!.. Thank you for being a genius
---Hey Chelo, I think that puts you in an elite group of three. Thank you for all your solves and all your comments, they are always appreciated.
Thanks is probably due to my dumb good luck rather than my genius :)
---ATK
on 7. August 2023, 15:28 by Tamuha
Thank you a lot for this puzzle. It was quite hard.
If I hadn't familiarized myself with this ruleset by doing other puzzles of yours, I wouldn't be able to solve this one.
But once you are in, it is quite fun to hunt for the next piece of logic and there is always something to discover. Well done.
---Thank you, that's very kind of you to say. ---ATK
on 18. July 2023, 06:55 by uvo_mod
Added Sudoku tag.
on 10. June 2023, 12:20 by marcmees
turning the rules around and making the player find the shaded cells definitely makes for an other type of interesting puzzle. thanks
---Agreed, I think it works quite nicely in my puzzle Origin of Symmetry too.
Thanks for your comment.
---ATK
on 3. June 2023, 23:23 by Carolin
Such a beautiful puzzle!
Really enjoyed solving it.
---
Thank you very much for your generous comment.
---ATK
on 21. May 2023, 20:37 by Calvinball
Very nice puzzle!
Every single digit I entered in the end phase left me terrified, I just paused every time to make sure I hadn't broken anything.
---
I'd have the same fear. Well done, and thanks for the solve.
---ATK
on 6. January 2023, 08:07 by EuroRama95
This was a very tricky solve. I may not have solved it the right way but in the end I was able to figure it out :) I knew I was close when I realized the relation with the puzzle's title !
---
Well done! I regret that I made this so hard that it's put others off.
I don't believe there is a "right" way to solve anything, getting there is surely what counts. :) --ATK
on 13. November 2022, 09:18 by madhupt
An absolutely delightful puzzle. But very hard.
@madhupt, thanks -- I made an easier version with four more givens -- perhaps that would have been better.
on 11. November 2022, 00:22 by StefanSch
This is such a great rule set.
@StefanSch, I really like it myself, I'll be back with more similar
on 10. November 2022, 18:01 by Snookerfan
Great puzzle, very nice solve path! Thank you
@Snookerfan, thank you for your kind remarks
on 10. November 2022, 08:10 by Elliott810
Beautiful puzzle! Thanks:)
@Elliott810, glad you liked it
